Review: Muskoka Brewery's Mad Tom IPA

With summer on its way, there's a continuous new stock of beers that have previously never been available in Manitoba. Muskoka Brewery was very easy to find a few years ago, but then disappeared completely from the Manitoban beer shelves, but it has returned! Every few months we see a new beer or two released in Manitoba by the brewery, this time it is Mad Tom IPA and Spring Oddity.

On a warm spring or summer day, a nice citrusy beer is great on the patio. Seeing that good IPAs generally have a generous amount of citrus in it, that's my go-to beer (after witbiers).

Aroma: Fresh cut alfalfa hay, a nice abundance of hops so it's a bit bitter and a lemony citrus to compliment it all.

Taste: Whew.. my goodness.. this is a BITTER India Pale Ale! This is a hop sandwich and then some. If you love nice and bitter hops, you'll love the flavour. That said, it's not a sweet IPA, very minimal lemon citrus to it. A bit much for even myself... and I absolutely love hops!

Overall Thoughts: INCREDIBLY HOPPY! Lots of bitterness, so much so that I'd call this a Hop beverage. I really enjoy it because I absolutely love a nice hoppy IPA, but to some who want a great balance of sweetness and hops, this will be too much for them. The bitterness of the hops will be lingering on my tongue for hours to come. This is a great patio beer and I wish I had bought more bottles. It is approximately $2.69 before tax and has 6.4% ABV, about average for a good India Pale Ale. Still not AS bitter as Simple Malt Cascade IPA.

From the label: Inspired by late night stories around the fire, Muskoka Mad Tom will instantly grab your attention. Dry-hopped with Chinook and Centennial hops, this IPA has a vibrant aroma, depth of flavour and crisp citrusy undertow like no other. So brace yourself, and crack one open for old Mad Tom.

Cody Lobreau

Welcome to BeerCrank.ca! I'm a bit obsessed about craft beer, especially Canadian craft beer so I mainly review Canadian beer but I love to try beer from all over the world as well. My goal is to help influence the casual beer drinker to go out and expand their beer palate one way or another. Feel free to send some feedback!
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